Sew, Mama, Sew!

So my mom showed me some of the basics of sewing shortly after Abigail was born, and I discovered that I thoroughly enjoy it! I have made a few things here and there since then (almost 2 years ago! Crazy!). It is difficult to find the time to sit at the sewing machine and the room to spread out fabric and patterns but now that the kids are getting older and entertain each other, I'm finding myself having more free time to dedicate to it. (I think that was a terribly long run-on sentence but oh well..)

My mom bought me a sewing machine as an early birthday present so I finally got it out of its box and played around with it. To my husband's embarrassment, I am now an Instagramer. (Follow me @msmomaftergodsownheart) He doesn't like Instagram. He thinks its all hipster and artsy and makes fun of me for it but I like it! :) I was inspired by some of the shops I saw on there that had Mommy & Me outfits. At first I thought about purchasing some but then the lightbulb went on and I was like, "No way! I can make that...."


AND I DID! Introducing Mommy & Me matching skirts. Because, seriously, when you have a daughter THIS cute, you gotta be twinkies!

I used this circle skirt pattern for Abigail's: http://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/tutorial-the-circle-skirt.html
I used this everyday skirt pattern for mine: http://icandy-handmade.com/2012/07/tutorial-and-pattern-everyday-skirt.html

She didn't have a black shirt so I took one of my old black shirts and made a pattern out of one of her tanks to make her top too. :)

That kissy face and ponytail. How did God allow that much cuteness in one tiny human?!

Elijah took this picture. Future photographer or what?!

I also saw shops on Instagram selling some super cute turban-inspired headbands. I used this video tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NOZjwwmKuk) to make my scrap fabric from our Mommy & Me skirts into this:

Even Abigail rocks it out! AND she actually kept it on her head for a good half hour!

I made the skirts yesterday during naptime and the headband this morning. Here are a few projects I've made since my debut of sewing after Abigail was born:

I made this T-shirt blanket for Keith a few months ago. I used a lot of his old band shirts that were ripped to shreds and weren't ever going to fit again. I didn't have enough so I threw in some AHA shirts that were stained.

Look at them! Oh, my heart. I made them matching Elmo pajama pants.

...And Elijah a hat. Just kidding! It was a skirt for that chunky monkey below:

Infinity scarf! 

Can't wait to see where my adventure in sewing takes me! If you see a pattern or something on Etsy/Pinterest that you really like, let me know! Would love to try to make it for you! :)

... I'm going to leave you with one of my new favorite pictures of Elijah and Abigail. I captured the most precious moment of them in the bathtub together. :) They truly love each other!

It was too cute not to hang in the bathroom! ... Don't mind that wall. I had a madwoman moment and decided to start tearing down wallpaper. This was a few months ago. I guess I also tore off the part of the wall that was supposed to stay there? (oops.) Not to mention all the rest of the walls still have the rad flower wallpaper still attached. Maybe one day I will finish the project I had in my head.... maybe. :)

Seeing Abortion Rightly and Acting Rightly as a Result

Satan has a high place when it comes to abortion in this nation. He is the father of lies and misinformation has run rampant, not only in the world, but in the church as well. I know it's in the church because I used to believe the lies and misinformation. I grew up going to church. I went to a private Baptist University. I was the Girl's Minister intern at a mega church in Texas, BUT if someone would have come up to me and asked me what I thought about abortion my reply would have been something like this:

"Well, I'm personally against it and think it should be illegal but since it's legal now then women should have the choice."

Yep. That's what I would've said. Fast forward a year when my husband and I moved into our first home. IT WAS LESS THAN A MILE FROM THE LAST SURGICAL ABORTION MILL IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI. I would drive by that pink slaughter house EVERY DAY on my way to work and shake my head in dismay-- NOT at the women going to pay a man to kill their baby-- but at the "crazy" people holding signs and pleading with women outside.

Thankfully God saved me out of my apathetic stupor.  I mourned at the realization that abortion is not healthcare, choice, or a right but MURDER. There is no denying this if you believe the Word of God. Life begins at conception. An embryo, a fetus, a "clump of cells" (which is what we are by the way) is a human being created in the image of God by God for a purpose.

Excerpts from David Platt's book, "Counter Culture":

Abortion is:

- An affront to God's authority as Creator - Only God can take life and only God can give life.  Job 33:4, Job 12:10, Job 1:21, Deuteronomy 32:39

-An assault on His works in creation - Read Psalm 139:13-16 in light of someone inserting a tool, taking a pill, or undergoing an operation that takes that life that God is developing and destroys it.

- Attacks God's relationship with the unborn - He is intimately involved in the life of that baby from the moment of conception and even before that! Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 22:9-10, Galatians 1:15, Isaiah 49:1, Luke 1:15

"If you are a Christian, I plead for you to step out of a muddled middle road that says, "I may not choose abortion, but I don't think we should take away others' right to choose it," and to realize how inconceivable it is for us to stay silent while millions of children- individuals made in the image of God- are dismembered and destroyed around us in the world. Such thinking is not enlightened tolerance; it is sinful indifference. Moral and political neutrality here is not an option for us. Randy Alcorn put it best when he said, 'To endorse or even to be neutral about killing innocent children created in God's image is unthinkable in the Scriptures, was unthinkable to Christians in church history, and should be unthinkable to Christians today.'"

So the way we view abortion should change our actions in regards to abortion.

I do not know if you realize this or not, but abortions do not just take place in buildings with hired medical staff. Medications, such as Plan B and some forms of birth control, sold at every major drug store, pharmacy, and grocery store give women the opportunity to kill their babies in the comfort of their own homes. Recently, Keith and I have been convicted about shopping at these stores. If we truly believe that these medications kill human beings then we cannot support a store that carries that drug. If Wal-Mart carried a weapon specified for women to take home and murder their three year old, refusing to shop there would be a no-brainer. Abortions provided by the Plan B pill are no different.

I began to research area grocery stores that do not sell baby-killing drugs. I found two close to my house. The first one that I looked at apparently is owned by a Christian family because when I went to look at their weekly ad.. this is what I saw:

I found out that they actually change that slogan/Bible verse every week. (This week it's "'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' Matthew 5:8 That's the good news. Now have a great day!" -- that just brings a big smile on my face!) Back to the prior slogan, the fact that I happened to be looking for a new grocery store for the reason listed above the week that they had chosen "You can't walk with God holding hands with the devil" speaks volumes to me.

So Mac's is now our go-to grocery store, and we love it! Shopping locally is something that we have always admired anyway, they bag the groceries for you, and our money doesn't support a store that provides medicine to kill humans! That's a win, win, win!